PRINTER'S NO. 2137

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

SENATE RESOLUTION

No. 220 Session of 1998

        INTRODUCED BY EARLL, WHITE, ROBBINS, THOMPSON, WENGER, GERLACH,
           HART, MOWERY, TOMLINSON, SALVATORE, BELL, BRIGHTBILL, CORMAN,
           GREENLEAF, MUSTO, STOUT, WAGNER, TILGHMAN, O'PAKE,
           AFFLERBACH, HELFRICK, KASUNIC, LAVALLE, COSTA, BELAN, BODACK,
           TARTAGLIONE AND MELLOW, SEPTEMBER 4, 1998

        REFERRED TO RULES AND EXECUTIVE NOMINATIONS, SEPTEMBER 4, 1998

                                  A RESOLUTION

     1  Designating the month of October 1998 as "Childhood Lead
     2     Poisoning Prevention Month" in Pennsylvania.

     3     WHEREAS, Lead poisoning, though often found
     4  disproportionately in children of low-income families living in
     5  deteriorating housing in inner cities, is also found in children
     6  in all strata of society throughout this Commonwealth; and
     7     WHEREAS, Lead poisoning is a primary threat to the health and
     8  development of all children, inflicting irreparable damage to
     9  their brains and nervous systems and permanently crippling some
    10  children at very early ages; and
    11     WHEREAS, Lead poisoning comes from a variety of sources,
    12  including paint in older buildings, toys and furniture and some
    13  toys of foreign manufacture, soil where lead-based paints or
    14  other solvents such as leaded gasoline were used and less common
    15  sources such as lead-glazed pottery, glassware and even old
    16  shooting ranges; and

     1     WHEREAS, Lead poisoning is entirely preventable when the
     2  conditions that give rise to it are known to exist; and
     3     WHEREAS, Visible symptoms of lead poisoning may be absent or
     4  may mimic symptoms of other common ailments until the damage
     5  done is irreversible; and
     6     WHEREAS, Annual blood tests can alert families and health
     7  professionals to the presence of lead in the child's environment
     8  and lead to remediation of the problem; therefore be it
     9     RESOLVED, That the Senate declare the month of October 1998
    10  as "Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Month" in Pennsylvania
    11  and urge all Pennsylvanians who suspect their children might
    12  have come into contact with lead paint or any other sources to
    13  get their children tested as soon as possible.












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